December 17, 2011

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Today was the highlight of my trip: 2 meals at my favorite Shanghainese restaurants in Shanghai. Honestly, I wouldn't come to Shanghai to eat much else... and I always return to my handful of favorite places. There just aren't any new places that can do better!

As I walked up to the door at Jesse Restaurant, I was surprised that they had changed the name from 吉士酒家 to 老吉士. I guess they just got tired of the confusion with Xinjishi (新吉士), which nowadays is probably more well-known to tourists thanks to the branch in Xintiandi.

My friend decided to order up a storm, even though there were only two of us for lunch. Her excuse was that she could always pack the leftovers, so I had no more complaints...

Jishi's salted chicken (吉士咸雞) - pretty decent.

Mixed mushroom with beancurd sheet (腐竹熗蘑菇) - I've always liked this dish, and this was one of the lighter dishes.

Jellyfish with vinegar (老醋蜇頭) - crunchy as always, with good amount of vinegar and coriander.

Sugar candy kumquat (冰糖金桔) - very, very delish... Served with just the peel and soaked in a bowl of cold, sugary water. Just perfect.

Stir-fried freshwater shrimp (清炒蝦仁) - so pretty with the little tails still attached... and so tender and yummy.

Deep-fried baby yellow croaker (酥炸小黃魚) - oh-so-good... I just can't get enough of yellow croaker... and execution was perfect.

Braised pork in brown sauce (外婆紅燒肉) - my number one reason for coming to Jesse... unfortunately my friend - who is a regular and knows the staff - didn't know there are many "options" one can add to the dish, and forgot to order the cuttlefish as an s. Oh well... the pork on its own was still extremely good. Even though mom never made hers this sweet, somehow I always felt that this was the most "homey" version for me. This calls for a bowl of white rice...

As is traditional, I placed an extra order of the pork so I could take it back home with me...

I spent the afternoon digesting all the food I had shoved in through my mouth, and waited for B to arrive. She had shortened her trip and hence missed lunch today. And where did I choose as dinner venue tonight but a place where she has already been to twice on her last trip...

It's been a while since I was last at Fu 1088 (福 1088), and during that time the already steep minimum charge per head went up even further, and is now at RMB 400. That's pretty tough to meet when all the homey dishes are cheap and drinks don't count toward that minimum... Anyway, I was charged with the ordering and made sure we ordered a couple of expensive items...

I asked for a sampling of 4 appetizers:

Deep-fried fish in sweet soy sauce (老上海燻魚) - still as good as I remembered. Crisp on the outside.

Slow-cooked lotus root filled glutinous rice with rock sugar (金絲桂花糯米藕) - this has been one of my favorite things since childhood, although I'd never seen it presented this way...

Braised diced chicken, conpoy, sea cucumber, fish maw and mushroom with abalone sauce (满坛香) - the menu says this was inspired by Buddha jumps over the wall (佛跳墻), and while some of the ingredients were the same, this was really a "dry" version with some abalone sauce, instead of a whole bowl of hot soup. I ordered this because the price was half of our minimum charge... While there wasn't anything wrong with the dish, I also thought it didn't deliver value for money... The mistake I made was to finish the pieces of chicken, because they really didn't deserve to take up space in my stomach tonight.

Sauteed fresh river shrimp (清炒手剝河蝦仁) - these were pretty good, but I had already had this for lunch earlier, and was more interested in another dish that arrived at the same time...

Sauteed hairy crab meat, served with toast (清炒蟹粉伴吐司) - this was the pièce de résistance for me. Wonderful, delicious crab meat and roe, sautéed to a viscous state like condensed milk or hot fudge, to be spooned on top of crisp sticks of toast.

Even though I was already feeling kinda full, I persevered and went through 3 sticks and lots of crab spread...

Sauteed minced duckling served with baked sesame pie (生炒鴨崧配叉子燒餅) - B had ordered this on her last trip to Shanghai but no one had the stomach space to eat any of it. So I decided to give her another chance to try it out. The minced duck was pretty good, but it was the baked sesame pie that really stood out. They were thin, crispy, and completely covered with sesame seeds on one side. The fragrance of the sesame was simply incredible. Pity I only had stomach space for one of these...

This was definitely too much food for the 3 of us, but fortunately my friend was able to pack up the leftovers to take home. Unfortunately the last 3 dishes arrived at the same time - in typical Chinese fashion - and got cold very quickly in this weather... and crab roe isn't something you want to have when it's cold. Oh well.

I was happy to be able to eat with B in Shanghai, after our meals in Switzerland and Hong Kong. Next time I will plan things a little better, and actually take her somewhere that she has never been...